Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit said the cost of producing power has gone up

Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit wants people to restrict their electricity consumption if they cannot afford to pay the bills.

Justifying the hike in power tariff, Dikshit said the cost of power production had increased and if Delhiites found the bills too high, they could always "use a fan instead of a cooler".

"We have been supplying power around the clock. We are not supplying power periodically. When a 24-hour supply is ensured, the Opposition says the bill is too high.

"If you consume electricity for 24 hours, then you do not pay for five hours' consumption," Dikshit said on Sunday.

Though she assured that future generations would never know the seven-to-eight-hour power cuts typical of Delhi's summer, Dikshit added: "If somebody is finding it difficult to pay the bill, then he can use a fan instead of a cooler. One can always cut down the consumption of power to limit the bill."

As the CM hinted there was no relief in sight for people tied down by steep power bills, the BJP was quick to demand an apology from her.

Delhi BJP president Vijay Goel accused the CM of favouring the power distribution companies and ignoring their "corrupt ways".

"Chief minister Sheila Dikshit, instead of checking it (corruption in discoms), is giving a statement about electricity being used by poor people," Goel said.

Reacting to Dikshit's statement, Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal tweeted: "Electricity bills r high not due to higher consumption but due to corruption. If she reduces her corruption, elect bills wud substantially go down (sic)."

Reacting to this, an adviser of the CM tweeted to Kejriwal: "A leader advises her people to conserve resources. A dealer does what you are doing."

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The power tariff in the city was hiked by 22 per cent in 2011 and again by 26 per cent for domestic consumers in July last year.

The tariff was hiked once again, by up to three per cent, from February 1. Over the last five years, the Delhi government has been providing a subsidy of Rs 1 per unit for domestic customers whose monthly power consumption does not exceed 200 units.

The Delhi government had last week offered a bailout package to Tata Power Delhi Distribution Ltd by infusing fresh equity of Rs 245 crore into the company to help it tide over its financial crisis.